Electronic apparatus and keyboard thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic apparatus includes a first body, a second body, a keyboard, at least one pair of body linkages and at least one pair of keyboard linkages. The second body is pivoted at the first body and has a second side facing the first body. The keyboard is adjacent to and movable connected to the second body. The keyboard side of the keyboard and the second side are located at the same side. The body linkages are protruded from the first side and movably connected to the second body. The keyboard linkages are opposite to each other and movably disposed at the keyboard and two side-edges of the second body. When the first body is extended relatively to the second body, the keyboard is able to move to a side of the second body near to the first body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of and claims thepriority benefit of a prior application Ser. No. 13/896,320, filed onMay 16, 2013, now pending. The prior application Ser. No. 13/896,320claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 102107732,filed on Mar. 5, 2013. The entirety of each of the above-mentionedpatent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and madea part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to a keyboard, and more particularly, toa keyboard able to be flipped over and moved.

2. Description of Related Art

Along with the continuous progress of science and technology, morecomplex and more user-friendly electronic products are ceaselesslyupgraded. Taking a computer as an example, in living and working ofcommon people, the computer has gradually become an indispensable tool.A notebook computer has the same functionality as a general desktopcomputer, but the notebook computer features small size and light weightto allow a user to carry on quite easily. In addition, in recent years,with the progress of touch technology and the rapid development ofvarious applications of electronic products, touch devices have becomevery popular. Along with the updating of the operating system, theoperating system used in notebook computers also gradually began to usetouch panel as the primary input device.

In recent years, the notebook design trend is focused on thinningelectronic apparatuses. In order to suit an operation system introducingtouching function, combining a notebook computer with a tablet computerhas become an inevitable trend. For example, when the first body(screen) of a notebook computer is flipped over to the back of thesecond body and is folded with the second body, the notebook computergives an appearance similar to a shape of a tablet computer. However,when the first body (screen) of an electronic apparatus is flipped overto the back of the second body (host), the keyboard on the surface ofthe second body may be exposed, which easily increases the chance for auser to scratch the keyboard due to carelessness or produces the problemof falling off the keys.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention is directed to a keyboard able to be coveredby a first body thereof to get protected in non-use status and be movedto the front of a display side thereof by linkages in operation status.

The invention is also directed to an electronic apparatus with theabove-mentioned keyboard where the display side faces the outside of thebody to avoid the keyboard from being exposed.

In the invention, the keyboard is adjacent to and movably connected to asecond body of the electronic apparatus, and the keyboard is located ata side of the second body far away from the place where the second bodyis pivoted to the first body. The electronic apparatus includes a firstbody and the second body, the first body has a first side and a displayside opposite to each other. The second body is pivoted at the firstbody and has a second side facing the first body. At least one pair ofbody linkages is protruded from the first side of the first body andmovably connected to the second body. At least one pair of keyboardlinkages is opposite to each other and movably disposed at twoside-edges of the keyboard and both side-edges of the second body. Thekeyboard has a keyboard side located at the same side of the secondside, in which when the first body is extended relatively to the secondbody, the keyboard is able to move along a first direction relatively tothe second body, then clockwise move to a side of the second body wherethe second body is pivoted to the first body by means of the rotationsof the pair of the keyboard linkages, and then to move along the firstdirection again to be fixed.

The electronic apparatus of the invention includes a first body, asecond body, a keyboard, at least one pair of body linkages and at leastone pair of keyboard linkages. The first body has a first side and adisplay side opposite to each other. The second body is pivoted at thefirst body, in which the second body has a second side facing the firstbody. The keyboard is adjacent to and movably connected to the secondbody, in which the keyboard is located at a side of the second body faraway from the place where the second body is pivoted to the first body.The keyboard has a keyboard side, and the keyboard side and the secondside are located at the same side. The body linkages are protruded fromthe first side of the first body and movably connected to the secondbody. The keyboard linkages are opposite to each other and movablydisposed at both sides of the keyboard and both sides of the secondbody. When the first body is extended relatively to the second body, thekeyboard is able to move along a first direction relatively to thesecond body, then clockwise move to a side of the second body where thesecond body is pivoted to the first body by means of the rotations ofthe pair of the keyboard linkages, and then move along the firstdirection again to be fixed.

Based on the description above, in the electronic apparatus of theinvention, the keyboard thereof is movably connected to a side of thesecond body. When the first body thereof is folded to the second body toserve as a tablet computer, the keyboard is able to be covered by thefirst body to get protection; when the first body is extended relativelyto the second body to serve as a notebook computer, the keyboard canmove to the front of the display side of the first body by the keyboardlinkages, followed by being fixed at another side of the second body. Asa result, the electronic apparatus of the invention can make thekeyboard fixed at different positions for operation in differentapplication statuses so as to avoid the keyboard in non-use status frombeing exposed to damage the appearance thereof or to make the keys falloff.

In order to make the features and advantages of the present inventionmore comprehensible, the present invention is further described indetail in the following with reference to the embodiments and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic apparatus according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1A inextended status.

FIG. 1C is a diagram showing the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1B indifferent operation statuses.

FIGS. 2A-2C are diagrams showing the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1B inanother operation status.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic apparatus in the statusof FIG. 2B according to another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic apparatus according toan embodiment of the invention and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing theelectronic apparatus of FIG. 1A in extended status. Referring to FIGS.1A and 1B, an electronic apparatus 100 of the embodiment includes afirst body 110, a second body 120, a keyboard 130, at least one pair ofbody linkages 140 and at least one pair of keyboard linkages 150. Thefirst body 110 has a first side 112 and a display side 114 opposite toeach other. The second body 120 is pivoted at the first body 110 and hasa second side 122 facing the first body 110. The keyboard 130 isadjacent to and connected to the second body 120. In FIGS. 1A and 1B,the keyboard 130 is located at a side of the second body 120 far awayfrom the place where the second body 120 is pivoted to the first body110. The keyboard 130 has a keyboard side 132 and the keyboard side 132and the second side 122 are located at the same side. The body linkages140 are protruded from the first side 112 of the first body 110 andmovably connected to the second body 120. The keyboard linkages 150 areopposite to each other and movably disposed at two side-edges 132 a ofthe keyboard 130 and two side-edges 123 a of the second body 120.

In the statuses of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the display side 114 of theelectronic apparatus 100 faces the outside of the first body 110 and is,for example, a touch screen. Thus, when the electronic apparatus 100 isin folding status, the electronic apparatus 100 can serve as a tabletcomputer. In addition, since the keyboard side 132 and the second side122 are located at the same side, and the keyboard 130 is far away froma side of the second body 120 where the second body 120 is pivoted tothe first body 110, when the electronic apparatus 100 is in foldingstatus to serve as a tablet computer, the keyboard 130 can be covered bythe first body 110 to get protection (as shown in FIG. 1A) to avoid thekeys from being scratched or falling off. When the first body 110 isextended relatively to the second body 120 as the status of FIG. 1B, thefirst body 110 can be upright to provide the user with a betterenjoyably viewing-angle. The body linkages 140 can assist in pivotingthe rotation shafts of the first body 110 and the second body 120 tosupport the extended angle of the first body 110 relative to the secondbody 120 and avoid the first body 110 from screen shake due to touchingthe display side 114 by the user.

However, the embodiment herein does not limit the placing way when theelectronic apparatus 100 serves as a tablet computer. FIG. 1C is adiagram showing the electronic apparatus 100 of FIG. 1B in differentoperation statuses. In FIG. 1C, the electronic apparatus 100 in extendedstatus can be flipped over on the desktop for the user to enjoyablyview. In order to avoid the surface wearing of the first body 110 andthe second body 120, the appearance treatment of the first body 110 andthe second body 120 can be implemented by adopting spraying with leatherpaint in a higher film thickness, which the embodiment is not limitedto. In other unshown embodiments of the invention, it can disposesupporting foot-pads (not shown) on the first body and the second bodyto avoid undermining the appearance.

FIGS. 2A-2C are diagrams showing the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1B inanother operation status. Referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, in addition to serveas a tablet computer, the electronic apparatus 100 of the embodiment canserve as a notebook computer. In more details, when the first body 110is extended relatively to the second body 120, the keyboard 130 can moverelatively to the second body 120 along a first direction D1, thenclockwise move to a side of the second body 120 where the second body120 is pivoted to the first body 110 by means of the rotations of thekeyboard linkages 150 in a clockwise direction D2, then move again inthe first direction D1 to be fixed. In FIGS. 2A-2C, the keyboard 130 canmove to the front of the display side 114 through the keyboard linkages150 so that the electronic apparatus 100 at the time serves as anotebook computer. In short, the electronic apparatus 100 of theembodiment not only can avoid scratching or falling off the keyboard dueto protrusion of the keyboard 130 when serving as a tablet computer, butalso can serve as a notebook computer by changing the relative positionbetween the keyboard 130 and the second body 120.

Continuing to FIGS. 1A-1C, in the embodiment, the second body 120further includes at least one pair of first chutes 124 (the figures onlygive out a single side viewing where the chutes are marked in hiddenlines), and the first chutes 124 are corresponding to the body linkages140 and disposed at a region of the second side 122 near to the firstbody 110. Accordingly, each of the body linkages 140 includes a firstsupporting point 142 and a second supporting point 144 opposite to eachother. The first supporting point 142 is pivoted at the first body 110and the second supporting point 144 is correspondingly and slidablydisposed at the first chutes 124. In other words, in the embodiment, thebody linkages 140 act similarly to a planar slider system. When thefirst body 110 is extended relatively to the second body 120, the bodylinkages 140 can rotate relatively to the first body 110 by means of thefirst supporting points 142 and drive the second supporting points 144moving in the first chutes 124, which enables the body linkages 140forming an included angle towards the first body 110 and assists insupporting the first body 110.

After making the first body 110 extended, in order to fix the angle ofthe first body 110, each body linkage 140 further includes a firsttorque part 146 disposed at the first supporting points 142. The firsttorque parts 146 function to fix the extended angle of the first body110 relative to the second body 120. The first torque part 146 is, forexample, a structure with multiple stopping points so as to make thefirst body 110 fixed at different extended angles. However, theinvention does not limit the structure form of the torque part 146.

Continuing to FIGS. 2A-2C, in the embodiment, the keyboard 130 isadjacent to the second body 120 and connected to each other through thekeyboard linkages 150. In the embodiment, the second body 120 furtherincludes at least one pair of second chutes 126 disposed at bothside-edges 123 a in the second body 120 connected to the second side 122and corresponding to the keyboard linkages 150. Accordingly, each of thekeyboard linkage 150 includes a third supporting point 152 and a fourthsupporting point 154 opposite to each other. Each of the thirdsupporting point 152 is pivoted at the corresponding side-edge 132 a inthe keyboard 130 connected to the keyboard side 132, and each of thethird supporting point 152 is respectively at the center of thecorresponding side-edge 132 a of the keyboard 130. Each of the fourthsupporting point 154 is correspondingly and slidably disposed at thecorresponding second chute 126. When the keyboard 130 moves along thefirst direction D1 relatively to the second body 120, the keyboard 130brings the fourth supporting points 154 moving in the second chutes 126.

In other words, after the first body 110 is extended relatively to thesecond body 120, first, the keyboard 130 brings the keyboard linkages150 moving along the first direction D1 relatively to the second body120, then, rotates to the front of the display side 114 relatively tothe second body 120 around the fourth supporting points 154 as circlecenter, and then moves again along the first direction D1 to close tothe second body 120, so that the electronic apparatus 100 at the time isin the status to serve as a notebook computer. In addition, each of thekeyboard linkage 150 further includes a second torque part 156 disposedat the third supporting point 152. The second torque parts 156 functionto fix the angle of the keyboard 130 relative to the second body 120 andavoid the shake of the keyboard 130 during the rotation of the keyboard130 relatively to the second body 120. The second torque part 156 hasthe same structure form as the first torque part 146, which is omittedto describe.

The embodiment herein does not limit the connection relationshipsbetween the keyboard 130, the keyboard linkages 150 and the second body120, and does not limit the second chutes 126 to be located at thesecond body 120. In other unshown embodiments of the invention, thesecond chutes can be disposed on the keyboard as well, and the keyboardlinkages at the time are pivoted to the second body. The keyboardlinkages can be telescopic rods and the both ends of each of the bodylinkage are respectively pivoted at the second body and the keyboard. Byelongations of the keyboard linkages, the keyboard can move relativelyto the second body, and the keyboard can rotate relatively to the secondbody by using the keyboard linkages.

In the embodiment, the keyboard 130 can be electronically connected tothe second body 120 in wire way or wireless way, so as to deliver theinput instructions of the keyboard 130 to the second body 120. Forexample, the electronic apparatus 100 further includes at least onetransmission line 160, and the transmission line 160 is out of thefourth supporting point 154 where the second body 120 is connected tothe keyboard linkage 150. The transmission line 160 is assembled in thekeyboard linkage 150, followed by connecting the keyboard 130 via thethird supporting point 152, which the invention is not limited to. Inother unshown embodiments of the invention, the keyboard can be awireless keyboard, which functions also to transmit information with thesecond body.

In addition, magnets (not shown) can be respectively disposed betweenthe keyboard 130 and the second body 120 for adsorbing each other andpositioning, which can fix the relative position between the keyboard130 and the second body 120 without shaking when the electronicapparatus 100 serves as a tablet computer or a notebook computer. Theinvention herein does not limit to use the magnets between the keyboard130 and the second body 120 to get mutual positioning. Anotherembodiment in the following is given to explain the fixing way betweenthe keyboard and the second body. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of anelectronic apparatus in the status of FIG. 2B according to anotherembodiment of the invention. In FIG. 3, further two first positioningportions 221 are respectively disposed on two body side-edges 220 b ofthe second body 220 where the keyboard 230 can be adjacent to the secondbody 220; two second positioning portions 231 are also correspondinglyand respectively disposed on two keyboard side-edges 230 b of thekeyboard 230 where the second body 220 can be adjacent to the keyboard230. By means of the mutual-fixing of the second positioning portion 231and the first positioning portion 221, the keyboard 230 fixes therelative position between the keyboard 230 and the second body 220. Forexample, each of the second positioning portions 231 has a plurality ofconcave portions on each of the keyboard side-edges 230 b of thekeyboard 230, and each of the first positioning portions 221 has aplurality of convex potions on each of the body side-edges 220 b of thesecond body 220. When the convex portions and the concave portions getstructure interference, the relative position between the keyboard 230and the second body 220 is fixed to avoid produce steps.

In summary, in the electronic apparatus of the invention, the keyboardthereof is movably connected to a side of the second body. When thefirst body thereof is folded to the second body to serve as a tabletcomputer, the keyboard is able to be covered by the first body to getprotection; when the first body is extended relatively to the secondbody to serve as a notebook computer, the keyboard can move to the frontof the display side of the first body by the keyboard linkages, followedby being fixed at another side of the second body. In addition, therelative position between the second body and the keyboard can be fixedto get positioning by using magnets or a positioning structure. Theelectronic connection between second body and the keyboard can berealized by disposing a transmission line on a keyboard linkage oradopting a wireless keyboard. Thus, the electronic apparatus of theinvention can make the keyboard fixed at different positions foroperation in different application statuses so as to avoid the keyboardin non-use status from being exposed to damage the appearance thereof orto make the keys fall off.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the descriptionsabove are several preferred embodiments of the invention only, whichdoes not limit the implementing range of the invention. Variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of theinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.The claim scope of the invention is defined by the claims hereinafter.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic apparatus, comprising: a hingedbody; and an input device, pivoted at a portion of the hinged body, andhaving an input surface being operated, wherein the input device turnsover relative to the portion of the hinged body in an upside downmanner, and the input surface faces toward another portion of the hingedbody when the hinged body is in a folded state.
 2. The electronicapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of the hinged bodycomprises: a second body; and a first linkage, pivoted to and extendedfrom the second body, and the input device pivoted to the first linkagefar away from the second body.
 3. The electronic apparatus as claimed inclaim 2, wherein said another portion of the hinged body comprises: afirst body, hinged to the second body, the first body and the secondbody switched between an extended state and the folded state relative toeach other, and the first linkage linked between the input device andthe second body, wherein the input device is assembled to or detachedfrom the second body, and swings between two opposite sides of thehinged body through the first linkage while being detached from thesecond body, wherein the input surface faces toward and being covered bythe first body when the first body and the second body are in the foldedstate.
 4. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein atleast one of the input device and the second body has a chute that thefirst linkage is slidably coupled thereto.
 5. The electronic apparatusas claimed in claim 3, wherein the first linkage is a telescopic rodlinked between the second body and the input device.
 6. The electronicapparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the hinged body comprises: asecond linkage, wherein one end of the second linkage is pivoted to thefirst body, and another end of the second linkage is coupled to a chuteof the second body.
 7. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 3,wherein the electronic apparatus is served as a tablet computer when thefirst body is folded to the second body, the electronic apparatus isserved as a notebook computer when the first body is extended relativeto the second body.
 8. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 3,wherein the input surface and a top surface of the second body are in asame plane when the input device is assembled to opposite sides of thehinged body respectively.
 9. An input assembly, suited for beingattached at opposite sides of an electronic apparatus, the electronicapparatus having a first body and the second body hinged to each other,the input assembly comprising: an input device, having an input surfacebeing operated; and a linkage, one end of the linkage pivoted to theinput device, another end of the linkage pivoted to the second body ofthe electronic apparatus, and the linkage swinging about the secondbody, wherein the input device turns over relative to the second body inan upside down manner, and the input surface is covered by the firstbody when the first body and the second body are folded with each other.10. The electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least oneof the input device and the second body has a chute that the linkage isslidably coupled thereto.
 11. The electronic apparatus as claimed inclaim 9, wherein linkage is a telescopic rod linked between the secondbody and the input device.
 12. The electronic apparatus as claimed inclaim 9, wherein the input surface and a top surface of the second bodyare in a same plane when the input device is assembled to opposite sidesof the electronic apparatus respectively.